This week, Valencia has become an international meeting point to address one of the major challenges in the water, waste and bioenergy sector: transforming organic matter into renewable energy, recovering nutrients and moving towards a more circular management of resources.
This has been the focus of the 19th edition of the IWA World Conference on Anaerobic Digestion IWA AD19, the leading international congress on anaerobic digestion, held from June 9 to 13 at the Valencia Conference Centre, which brought together nearly 750 attendees.
In this context, the Valencian companies Facsa and Sitra, part of Nealis' Water and Environment division, have had a prominent presence as sponsors of the event and have showcased some of their innovation projects in urban and industrial water management, biogas and biomethane production, and waste valorization.
Anaerobic digestion is a process by which microorganisms break down organic matter in the absence of oxygen. This process yields biogas, which can be transformed into biomethane, a renewable gas, as well as other usable resources such as fertilizers or recovered nutrients.
During the congress, Facsa demonstrated how urban wastewater treatment infrastructure can also become a source of energy and other usable resources. Among the examples presented was the ENEDAR project, a solution designed to transform sewage treatment plant waste into sustainable energy and fertilizers, as well as various advancements to improve the efficiency of these facilities by optimizing their processes.
From innovation to real plants
For its part, Sitra has presented in the industrial field the results of SERENA, a project focused on the design, construction and operation of a pilot plant to recover nutrients and other usable resources from organic waste.
This project allows progress in combining different treatment technologies to address certain types of industrial waste, opening up new opportunities for its use, valorization, and reintegration into new production cycles.
The practical application of these solutions was also showcased at the congress through virtual reality. At the companies' booths, attendees were able to take a guided tour of an automated biomethane plant and experience firsthand how the anaerobic digestion process works in a facility that produces renewable gas and injects biomethane into the grid.
Overall, Facsa and Sitra's participation in IWA AD19 has shown that technological improvement has already consolidated anaerobic digestion as a strategic tool to move towards more circular, efficient and resilient models, especially in a regulatory context that demands recovering more resources, reducing consumption and making better use of waste.
